Any ways to get a travel concession for international uni students? (1 Viewer)

[SuitCase]

Hey,

Was wondering if any of the creative thinkers here could help me get my girlfriend out of paying the full adult fee for every trip she makes via rail and bus.

Currently she pays about $3.80 for a return rail ticket to Lindfield, and $3.20 for a return (well, two one way) bus tickets to UTS Ku-ring-gai if she does it by the system - that's $28\wk for her! I'm personally enrolled at Sydney Uni and get the little stamp on my student card that lets me get the half-off fare for students, and continue to be upset at how much she has to pay despite the fact my trip is twice hers.

What I was hoping for are any tricks or ideas to get her the card or stamp required for student status, whether this is by shady means or otherwise Is she in any way legally able to apply for concession status, or can I order a supplementary card for myself that I could give to her? I recall in high school they gave out this proof of concession card that didn't have a name on it, could I get something similar and have her scribble her name on it so it'd stand up to casual observation by humans, even if the ID no. was mine? Any ideas would be cool!

(As for those who might think just buying the student tickets might work, it doesn't really - while Cityrail don't always check, she's had an inspector grill her about not being allowed to have a student fare which scared her off that idea, and the bus drivers always check for the stamp on the student card.)

Thanks for your help! Sorry if this is skirting the edge of the rules, but I wanted to see if I was missing out on any bright ideas other people might be using.

 

[nwatts]

give her aids, get a pension card. $2.50 anywhere in nsw.

 

[SuitCase]

Ooh, there's an idea.

 

[Eriny]

Does she have a relative still in high school that sort of looks like her? I'm not sure how concession works in NSW, but here we have to get a form, fill out our details, attach a picture and get our school to stamp it and then take it to a train station to get our card. So, if she knew someone in high school that looks like her, she could get a card that way.

 

[SuitCase]

Not really, she came by herself, and I'm not in touch with anyone who looks too much like her..

I'm not sure if high school cards are the answer - though I suppose she does look a bit younger, it'd probably be better to get one suited explicitly for uni. Also, the high school ticket usually only goes for a limited span of stations - for example. using my sister's wouldn't work as it only goes so far as Pymble. That's a cool idea, though.

 

[Monstar]

Heres a sweet idea, you rip off your little sticker and stick it on hers. Then just say you lost your card to your uni and then just get the concession and student card again.

 

[DeathB4Life]

just buy the weekly/monthly tickets for her with your concession card and have her pay you for it......

.....

in non monetary form

 

[jb_nc]

No, she is an international student and she SHOULD pay full fares, not be subsidised by the taxpayers of New South Wales for her travel in a country which she is not a citizen of.

End.

just buy the weekly/monthly tickets for her with your concession card and have her pay you for it......

.....

in non monetary form

Why even bother paying for a ticket, just walk straight on. You're going to be fined the same amount anyway if you're caught.

 

[poloktim]

Hey,

Was wondering if any of the creative thinkers here could help me get my girlfriend out of paying the full adult fee for every trip she makes via rail and bus.

Currently she pays about $3.80 for a return rail ticket to Lindfield, and $3.20 for a return (well, two one way) bus tickets to UTS Ku-ring-gai if she does it by the system - that's $28\wk for her! I'm personally enrolled at Sydney Uni and get the little stamp on my student card that lets me get the half-off fare for students, and continue to be upset at how much she has to pay despite the fact my trip is twice hers.

What I was hoping for are any tricks or ideas to get her the card or stamp required for student status, whether this is by shady means or otherwise Is she in any way legally able to apply for concession status, or can I order a supplementary card for myself that I could give to her? I recall in high school they gave out this proof of concession card that didn't have a name on it, could I get something similar and have her scribble her name on it so it'd stand up to casual observation by humans, even if the ID no. was mine? Any ideas would be cool!

(As for those who might think just buying the student tickets might work, it doesn't really - while Cityrail don't always check, she's had an inspector grill her about not being allowed to have a student fare which scared her off that idea, and the bus drivers always check for the stamp on the student card.)

Thanks for your help! Sorry if this is skirting the edge of the rules, but I wanted to see if I was missing out on any bright ideas other people might be using.

Do International Student Cards work on CityRail? I know they allow half fare on CountryLink trains. I've travelled on CountryLink with a friend from overseas several times, and she's always paid half fare with her ISIC.

In Wollongong the local bus company used to provide half fare for international students when CityRail wouldn't, but this year stopped it.

Failing that, get her a car and a licence. If NSW is going to be unwelcoming to international students, then they should all get cars and rape the environment and add to traffic.

 

[SuitCase]

Heres a sweet idea, you rip off your little sticker and stick it on hers. Then just say you lost your card to your uni and then just get the concession and student card again.

You know, this year they made it part of the card! It's just a little printed circle. Besides, last year they laminated it anyway, so it'd be awfully hard to get the sticker. This isn't a terrible idea, though.

just buy the weekly/monthly tickets for her with your concession card and have her pay you for it......

.....

in non monetary form

Yeah, this is a problem because they will see the concession and then ask for proof of student ID. She could laugh it off and say "Oh, I thought I was entitled as I'm a student, heehee" but I get the feeling that sooner or later she'll be approached by someone not so forgiving and get the $200 (or whatever) fine.

I don't mind the second suggestion too much, though

Do International Student Cards work on CityRail? I know they allow half fare on CountryLink trains. I've travelled on CountryLink with a friend from overseas several times, and she's always paid half fare with her ISIC.

Huh! Well, I know CityRail doesn't, but the idea that she's allowed student fare on countrylink is an interesting one. She's traveled it twice (with me) and we got her an adult ticket both times, but I didn't actually ask if she's eligible for any concession. Looking at http://www.countrylink.info/travelling_with_us/reservations_and_tickets/concessions it does seem that she's entitled to student fare. Thanks for that tip!

Thanks for the suggestions so far, everyone. One idea I have in my head is perhaps.. is there some generic "proof that I'm a student" card that I can get for myself, and perhaps give to her via scribbling her name on it (like the school pupil identification card) or transferring a sticker? I'm thinking something like the "Proof of Age" card here, but I'm not aware of the options out there.

 

[poloktim]

the only proof that you are a student is your student card on which they have your transport sticker, or the transport card which tafe and school kids tend to get which has a sticker on it. Both of these have the card owners name, you can't just write any name on it, nor can you transfer a sticker as they are designed so they can't be transferred.

If you come here on a special scholarship from the Aust. govt then you are entitled to transport concession as an international student, but obviously your gf is not. just pay the fee that applies to her (the same as everyone else does) and don't bother "trying to beat the system"...

Last year they protested about it. Perhaps if it *is* an issue, they should protest more about it. Even though their protests will fall on deaf ears, it'd be better than SRC protests.

 

[-Dutchie-]

Don't.

She'll get a 100 dollar fine for each offence if one of those people checks her. Also, she could go to jail for fraud.

I used a concession card of a friend of mine. She was here by an exchange program and thus gained a card. When she moved back, I used it.
When I was going out to North Ryde one day, I accidently used a wrong travelten (it was only one section off and I honestly didn't know). The bus person ticket checker guy fined me 100 dollar. Next, he checked my concession card. He asked if I had any ID on me. I said no. He asked to see my wallet and saw my bank card, with a differnent name on it than on my concession card. He said he could take me to jail for fraud, which is kinda a major offense, heh. He was also going to fine me another 100.

Thank god he was a nice guy and only fined me for 100 and didn't take me to jail.

But honestly, don't bother. Just pay the money. I buy a 41 dollar travelpas each week. It sucks ass. Just deal with it.

 

[SuitCase]

Hmm, okay. It appears that I either overestimated the amount of devious schemes available to get past this requirement or underestimated the ability of ticket inspectors to determine you're not quite eligible for the student ticket.

Regardless, thanks for all the advice everyone - 'specially Dutchie who seems to have only been motiviated to post here in response of my foolishness?

It seems to me that the only way to get past the "ticket problem" would be to just not buy a train ticket each day (In years of travelling it, I've never been checked up on the train between Turramurra\Pymble and Lindfield before) but that carries a risk that's not really worth taking. Guess my girlfriend will have to keep bleeding money for the adult tickets, but I suppose at least she's not back in America paying the prices they have to for the trains!

 

[withoutaface]

Hey,

Was wondering if any of the creative thinkers here could help me get my girlfriend out of paying the full adult fee for every trip she makes via rail and bus.

Currently she pays about $3.80 for a return rail ticket to Lindfield, and $3.20 for a return (well, two one way) bus tickets to UTS Ku-ring-gai if she does it by the system - that's $28\wk for her! I'm personally enrolled at Sydney Uni and get the little stamp on my student card that lets me get the half-off fare for students, and continue to be upset at how much she has to pay despite the fact my trip is twice hers.

What I was hoping for are any tricks or ideas to get her the card or stamp required for student status, whether this is by shady means or otherwise Is she in any way legally able to apply for concession status, or can I order a supplementary card for myself that I could give to her? I recall in high school they gave out this proof of concession card that didn't have a name on it, could I get something similar and have her scribble her name on it so it'd stand up to casual observation by humans, even if the ID no. was mine? Any ideas would be cool!

(As for those who might think just buying the student tickets might work, it doesn't really - while Cityrail don't always check, she's had an inspector grill her about not being allowed to have a student fare which scared her off that idea, and the bus drivers always check for the stamp on the student card.)

Thanks for your help! Sorry if this is skirting the edge of the rules, but I wanted to see if I was missing out on any bright ideas other people might be using.

So have a fucking cry about it. I pay $28 a week for transport plus 35 mins walk each way, every day of the week. And this is just from Castle Hill to the city.


There's no valid reason why the government should subsidise international student travel, given they generally don't remain in Australia after their degree and contribute to the economy. I'd personally consider the restriction on working hours to be a far more important thing to remove.

On a side note you can avoid fines for pretty much anything on cityrail by inventing a fictional name, address, postcode etc for everyone to use, that way noone forgets it and can "verify" the identity of any friends who get called by transit officers to check their details.

 

[MiSaMi~]

Yes there are very many expenses if to travel to another country as student. I must save my money more!!

 

[watatank]

No it isn't. It's the sticker on the card which is your transport concession. Only students eligible for a concession are given the transport concession on their card, and therefore only those students can legally buy concession tickets.

If the cards are the same as they were a few years ago when I was a first year then the transort concession ID is actually printed on the card as opposed to a sticker...but every year after that you have to get a new sticker stuck on it

Yeah I'm a first year UOW student and we have those concession ID thingys printed on our card.

How do they work out who is eligable for concession anyway?

 

[vodkacrumble]

a chick i went to uni with from Norway just had a girl who looked a bit like her to say she lost her card, get a new one and give it to the Norwegian girl.

anyway, a really good tip for saving money is to buy a weekly TravelPass (that is in coloured sections - red, green, yellow...). buy one from a newsagent. they only become 'active' when they first go through the ticket gates and then they are valid for 1 week.
BUT, if you go through 2 stations that have no ticket gates it never gets validated and therefore doesn't start 'counting down'.

if a ticket inspector checks, they will ask why it's not validated - tell them you bought it yesterday but the stations you travel have no gates. they will write the expiry date on the back so it will then become validated (if you get inspected again), but technically you can still travel through ticket gates.

i did this when i lived at erskineville and went to uni at lindfield - i only ever had to buy one every month or so when someone checked my ticket.

 

[SuitCase]

There's no valid reason why the government should subsidise international student travel, given they generally don't remain in Australia after their degree and contribute to the economy. I'd personally consider the restriction on working hours to be a far more important thing to remove.

Hey, she's studying teaching. In any other case the government would be begging her to do that!

Thanks for the idea about the fake name and all that, though, but it sounds like that'd be more useful for when I was at high school or something - we're both bad liars and would probably trip up somewhere along the line.

If the cards are the same as they were a few years ago when I was a first year then the transort concession ID is actually printed on the card as opposed to a sticker...but every year after that you have to get a new sticker stuck on it

At Sydney uni, last year there was a sticker on the card - but it was laminated over, so I suppose it wouldn't be that easy to extract the sticker for someone else. Now we just have a normal plastic one with the Cityrail circle printed on it - it must vary by uni.

anyway, a really good tip for saving money is to buy a weekly TravelPass (that is in coloured sections - red, green, yellow...). buy one from a newsagent. they only become 'active' when they first go through the ticket gates and then they are valid for 1 week.
BUT, if you go through 2 stations that have no ticket gates it never gets validated and therefore doesn't start 'counting down'.

if a ticket inspector checks, they will ask why it's not validated - tell them you bought it yesterday but the stations you travel have no gates. they will write the expiry date on the back so it will then become validated (if you get inspected again), but technically you can still travel through ticket gates.

i did this when i lived at erskineville and went to uni at lindfield - i only ever had to buy one every month or so when someone checked my ticket.

Oh, wow, this was the sort of idea I was hoping for. That sounds like a solution, as all the stations involved in her trip don't have gates.

Do the Travelpasses have a date on them at all? Or is it always easy to say "Oh I bought it yesterday" and have the inspector believe you? I ask this because I'm pretty sure she will only get inspected once or twice this year, and by then the travelpass might be months old. If you can reassure me about this (I've never even seen a travelpass before) I think I might try out your idea!

Did you go to UTS and take the bus, by the way? Would using the pass in the bus mark it as validated? It looks like the $45\wk yellow pass would work for the buses in the area as well, but I recall they have a machine you put the card in.

 

[vodkacrumble]

Do the Travelpasses have a date on them at all? Or is it always easy to say "Oh I bought it yesterday" and have the inspector believe you? I ask this because I'm pretty sure she will only get inspected once or twice this year, and by then the travelpass might be months old. If you can reassure me about this (I've never even seen a travelpass before) I think I might try out your idea!

Did you go to UTS and take the bus, by the way? Would using the pass in the bus mark it as validated? It looks like the $45\wk yellow pass would work for the buses in the area as well, but I recall they have a machine you put the card in.

if you buy a TravelPass from a newsagent it DOESN'T have a date on it. i never bought one from CityRail so it might if you do that.
the only time a date is printed on is when you put it through a ticket gate, then it will have an expiry date printed 7 days from then. it's designed so you can buy a stack of them and you don't have to line up to buy a ticket each week.

you can use the "I bought it yesterday" excuse, if she says which stations she travels between they will know she's had nowhere to validate the ticket.
trust me, i used the passes for about 6 months and was only inspected twice. they just write down a date 7 days from when you said you bought it.

HOWEVER, the buses to UTS Lindfield DON'T accept the passes as they are ShoreLink, a private company. she can get a pass from them which she can recharge with $20+ each time that gives you a slight discount each trip (for me it was 70c instead of 80c). also means she doesn't need to have cash on her.
but she would still have to pay the full rate as they ask to see a concession card.

 

[SuitCase]

Fantastic. Thank you for that information! I will look into both tomorrow and report back to the thread at some point.